UFC analyst lists possible UFC 317 International Fight Week headliners

“It makes sense timeline-wise. Dricus Du Plessis and Khamzat Chimaev is a very, very worthy fight of International Fight Week. Obviously Chimaev in the past has had issues with injuries, withdrawals and he hasn’t fought in the United States for a while. I don’t know if there’s any reason for that, but I think right off the top of my head that’s the best fight you could put together with guys that are available. We don’t have to wait for any variables of, ‘He has to get through this person or that person.’ I think for me, that’s a logical fight that sticks out to me.”

“Obviously because Alex lost the title, he would have to go down. So this would be a middleweight fight, Dricus Du Plessis versus Alex Pereira. Could Alex make 185 pounds again? I really, really doubt it. But it’s just one of those things. We can get a little crazy with this. There’s a big maybe. But if you come to Alex with the right amount of money. You’ve got three months time. He might be able to pull off the drop down to 185 pounds. I would like to see Dricus in this sport (on International Fight Week), so that’s why I have him in my top two fights. I think he deserves to headline a big card where he’s going to get pay-per-view points and there’s no bigger guy to get him those pay-per-view points than Khamzat Chimaev and Alex Pereira.”

“The rematch between Merab Dvalishvili and Sean O’Malley is on my list of logical fights you can make timeline-wise, availability. You have to take those into account when we’re talking about what could potentially headline International Fight Week. That’s a no-brainer.”

“I heard rumbling that Merab could make 125. I know Merab makes his weight cuts very hard on himself. He did not take the easy route during fight week. Everything Merab does, he takes the hard route. But with that being said, I do think he could make 125 pounds and that’s the fight that Alexandre Pantoja needs to put him over. You’ve got to put Pantoja in marquee fight. We all know how talent-rich flyweight is. Flyweight and bantamweight, to me, are the two most talent-rich divisions in the UFC right now from top to bottom. From the champion down to the lowest ranked guy. The lighter you, the more skilled you have to be in this sport. That would give Merab that opportunity to chase two titles, and it gives Pantoja the opportunity for a big marquee win, a big marquee fight that doesn’t involve Brandon Moreno. That would be a fun one to have him chase the double champ status.”

“The timing seems absolutely perfect. When you have champions like Islam Makhachev, you want to save him for specific markets. Obviously you want to keep him for Abu Dhabi, but Magomed Ankalaev just won the title. It sounds like they want to do the rematch in Abu Dhabi. So that frees up Islam to fight stateside on International Fight Week. Plenty of time for him to make weight, and I think this is the timeline that he wants.

You could make the argument Ilia Topuria doesn’t deserve the fight because of Arman Tsarukyan, and I still believe Arman Tsarukyan is the clear No. 1 contender in that weight class. It’s a shame we didn’t get to see that fight. But I think for International Fight Week you want to put together the most marquee matchup you can. While I do think it should be Arman next, if we’re talking about International Fight Week headliner, that’s not the fight to make. The fight to make is absolutely Islam vs. Ilia headlining International Fight Week, and that would be a huge, huge fight.”

“Could you imagine? When (Ilia) put out the mysterious tweet that, ‘We’re never going to see it coming.’ Like, OK. I could see Islam coming. I could see that when coming. But when you say we’re never going to see this one coming? That’s immediately where my mind went. Could you imagine the level of superstardom that he could achieve if he fought Conor McGregor and beat him? It’s a level that we’ve never even seen before. People don’t even realize here in America how big of a superstar he is, but in Spain, for this guy to walk out on the field at a Real Madrid game? He is so nationally recognized in Spain, and in Georgia, as well. In Europe he is an absolute superstar. I just don’t think the people in America has quite seen it yet. But if he goes out there and fights Conor and beats him, you are going to achieve a level of global superstardom that we have never seen before. And for Conor? If he could turn Ilia around, you want to talk about a resurgence in your career? That’ more on the fun list. I don’t know if we’re ever going to see Conor McGregor fight again, but I like the idea of Ilia Topuria and Conor McGregor fight.”

“Let’s say we can’t get Jon Jones. It’s just not working for Jones timeline, but Tom Aspinall’s adamant about fighting on International Fight Week. Why not just do him and Alex? Alex is that guy that would be ready and willing to step up. He has talked about wanting to fight at heavyweight. If you are in Tom Aspinall’s shoes, obviously you want to chase Jon Jones. You want to win the undisputed title, and a lot of people have him pegged as the undisputed champion because he seems to be in the driver’s seat in terms of being the leader of the weight class. Why not just fight Alex? It’s a very winnable fight for you, and it’s going to pull a lot of numbers, you’re going to make a ton of money and at that point, if Tom Aspinall fights at International Fight Week, you are going to force the UFC’s hand in terms of stripping Jones of the title and making Aspinall the undisputed champion.

“Will Aspinall accept that? Probably not because he’s such a competitor. He wants to fight Jon Jones to solidify himself as the true champion at heavyweight. But if you put him in there with Alex, it’s a huge, marquee fight. It’s going to draw a ton of buzz. It’s going to draw a ton of pay-per-view buys, and it’s going to force Jon’s hand down the road. If Aspinall fights anybody, it’s going to force Jon’s hand. I think the fight with Alex would be a very, very fun fight for the headliner of International Fight Week.”

“Valentina Shevchenko vs. Zhang Weiliwould be a great fight. Is it a main event worth fight for International Fight Week? Probably not. But put that in the co-main event spot just in case something goes south with the main event and you shift them up and give them a push, and I think that would be a huge fight for women’s MMA.”

To hear more from Chiesa, check out his complete appearances on “The Bohnfire” podcast with MMA Junkie senior reporter Mike Bohn above.

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 317.